Referees are human beings, and even five of them on one football pitch can’t see anything. Of course, some of them are actually terrible at their job, but get to keep it through the wrongdoings of FA’s and FIFA. Kevin Mirallas nearly ripping Luis Suarez to pieces and Wayne Rooney kicking violently at Jordon Mutch serve as another example of how the sport needs intervention involving video, replays and cameras.
I don’t think I’m the only one who’s willing to let a football match go 3 to 5 minutes longer if it means better decisions. No mistakes on offsides that lead to goals. No penalty kicks missed or wrongly given. No violent moments from players, injuring or close to that, that go unnoticed or leniently punished. Yes, it might hurt the authority of the referee, but that line of thinking is absurd.
Football, and sports in general, weren’t made so jobs will be created for officials. All around the world, things are played between children and amateurs without anyone officiating or overseeing them. The sport can be played without someone blowing his whistle, although it can turn into a mess. The current stubbornness coming from the men who decide where this sport will go to makes it seem like referees, more than anything else, are the reason we’re playing and watching this sport.
They’re the last piece of the puzzle, and the least necessary. If having a video assistant means hurting the egos of Phil Dowd or Neil Swarbrick, so be it. The former allowed Kevin Mirallas to go in cleets first into Luis Suarez’ knee. Referees in the Premier League don’t like Suarez, but allowing someone to hurt him in that way, luckily not becoming a more serious injury, is almost assisting a criminal, with Kevin Mirallas showing no remorse or any sign of flinching. He tackled with purpose and intent to hurt, but wasn’t sent off.
The same with Swarbrick and his assistants. Wayne Rooney kicked Mutch right from under him. No legs colliding by mistake. A purpose-filled kick to hurt and get him out of his way. Some people can get a night in the slammer for doing that on the street. Wayne Rooney gets to lecture the referee and then criticize those who dared speak against him on TV.
The system is broken in the biggest entertainment event the world has to offer. It’s a shame that everyone knows what it takes to fix it, but the greedy, blind and lazy men at the top don’t want to do anything about it.